In 2017, it’s rare that a product or service is truly unique, and differentiating your website is a challenge for most Los Angeles based website owners. Providing a good customer service experience for your customers has become paramount to online business longevity.
Once incredibly effective way for a brand to increase their customer lifetime value (CLV) is by providing exceptional customer service to its existing customers. Having a great team is an absolute necessity, but without the right set of tools there will be no efficiency and it will not be financially sustainable. This is where a customer service ticketing system comes in to organize, delegate and streamline communication with customers.
Customer service ticketing systems are more or less email management systems that create tickets which log communication over the lifetime of your customer and make it easily accessible to anyone in your support team (or in management if required). The tickets also identify the team member(s) that assisted the customer, the order the correspondence relates to (if applicable) and shows reassignment for escalations.
Here are some valuable features you should expect to find in a Magento customer service ticketing extension:
Flexibility: Each business has its own way of dealing with its customers tickets. The right customer service ticketing systems should provide options that can be configured to meet your business’ requirements of managing tickets. It should also be able to communicate with APIs to unify various tools and create a seamless workflow.
Support multiple channels: A customer service ticketing systems should have the ability to collect and sort communications from multiple channels like chat, phone, email, social media, etc. and present them as a chain. Without this ability, communications through multiple channels can easily create confusion.
Automate the workflow: Customers should be encouraged to submit tickets through the customer service ticketing system. When the ticket has been created, it should be assigned to respective teams or individuals. Based on predefined rules, certain tickets may be attended to by the system automatically.
Knowledge-base and community: Self-help resources can cut customer service tickets considerably by helping customers help themselves. While a customer is in the process of creating a ticket, the flow should provide links to related self-help articles. On the other hand, a forum can help build a community and brand loyalty. It also encourages customers to help other customers.
Reporting and analytics: Real time reporting and analytics can provide critical insights into operations. The best customer service ticketing systems will provide detailed reports and analytics of all activities enabling real time decision making.
Custom branding: Branding is an important part of building a loyal customer base. Basic and advanced CSS re-branding of the ticketing system helps create the feel of a professional environment. Customers tend to trust businesses that pay attention to such details.
Support for handheld devices: Customers are increasingly using mobile and handheld devices for contacting customer care. It is important that customer service ticketing systems have sport a responsive design that looks similar on all devices and adapts to the screen size. It should also allow you to respond to cases on-the-go. A mobile app is a bonus.
Businesses that operate a Magento eCommerce store or Magento Website can also add Magento Extensions to automate customer service ticketing systems. Magento Extensions can help enhance functionality of your existing Magento website.
Here are some Magento extensions that are currently on the market:
- Zendesk (http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/zendesk.html): The leading help desk solution on the market. All necessary features out of box.
- ROBIN e-commerce customer service (http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/robin-e-commerce-customer-service.html): The customer service app with everything you do need. And nothing you don’t.
- CRM Ticket – Customer Service Tool (http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/crm-ticket-customer-service-tool.html): CRM Ticket handles all the communication with your clients and organize the customer service process.
- Help Desk MX (http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/helpdesk-1.html): The leading helpdesk solution on the market. All necessary features out of box.
- Help Desk Ultimate by aheadWorks (http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/help-desk-ultimate-by-aheadworks.html): Help desk solution for ticket management with elaborate statistics, case tracking & resolution system.
The research for this article was done by a staff writer for LDA Interactive, a Los Angeles based web design agency. Contact LDA at info@ldainteractive.com or call (213) 342-1770 for a website consultation from one of our specialists.